‘Disgrace’: ‘Livid’ AFL star left at the altar by rival club
A Giants star has had the rug pulled out from under him with a rival club performing an extraordinary backflip that has sparked outrage.
No deal!?
In a shocking trade backflip, St Kilda has pulled out of its pursuit for Giants defender Leek Aleer.
The move has blindsided a “livid” Aleer, whose manager said the backflip “came as an absolute shock” after the Saints were unable to strike a trade.
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“They’ve been wining and dining for him for two years. They loved where he was at and finally turned his head,” Aleer’s agent, Dylan Smith from Centimetre Perfect Global, told Channel 9.
“They got him in, had the meetings and convinced him that the Saints was where he should be. It was a good fit. It was a career move and a four-year (deal) playing alongside Jack Silvagni and others.
“Today they backflipped because they don’t have the picks for him. It’s disappointing. They should be prepared for this after two years. They couldn’t get a future second-rounder for him.
“Leek is not happy and to be honest, livid with the situation. Clubs have rung me and said, ‘It’s a disgrace, what have they done?’ Nobody from the Saints has spoken to him.”
It leaves Aleer stranded at the altar as he scrambles to find a new AFL home by next Wednesday’s trade deadline.
Hard to recall a situation like this happening before. Especially when you consider it involves a player the Saints have courted as far back as two years ago.
“We’ll get it done,” Saints head of talent and acquisition Graeme Allan told Trade Radio last Monday.
By Thursday the deal was dead. And Aleer’s four-year contract at Moorabbin believed to be worth over $700,000 per season along with it.
But not before trade negotiations with the Giants had already taken place.
And yet there’s still six days (yes, six days) left in the trade period. There’s plenty of time on the clock.
So it’d be different if St Kilda had paused or ‘pulled out’ of talks — not abandoned plans for the 24-year old entirely.
But did talks between the Giants and Saints actually break down? Surely there’s another reason. For haggling over a future second-round pick, as suggested, seems odd.
So what changed? There’s a few possibilities.
Graeme ‘Gubby’ Allan declared at the start of the week the club still had “plenty of money” and would “still go fishing.” He might’ve been half right.
For the most intriguing possibility is that the Saints have veered towards another target.
Could that be Jordan De Goey? Clubs think he could be gettable. Sam De Koning is another name that’s come up in the rumour mill.
St Kilda has already landed all its players this trade period — Tom De Koning, Jack Silvagni, Sam Flanders and Liam Ryan — so it’s not as though the club has other key priorities we know of.
It’s left them with just picks 50 and 65 in this year’s draft, plus they’re down a 2026 second-round pick.
You wouldn’t put it past the Saints to be cooking up something else.
Then there’s the sheer money side of things. Or potential lack thereof causing buyer’s remorse.
As mentioned, St Kilda has already gone hard this off-season in a multimillion-dollar spending spree. Plus the club upgraded Callum Wilkie’s contract.
Part of these bold plans could well have hinged on moving salary out, with Jack Steele and Rowan Marshall linked to trades.
However, discussions between St Kilda and Geelong for Marshall are at a standstill, while there’s been limited movement on the Steele front.
It’s curious that on the same day the Saints were out on Aleer, Geelong appears to be prioritising Charlie Curnow over Marshall with reports of a mega offer of three first-round picks for the Blues superstar.
And Cats veteran ruckman Rhys Stanley earned a new one-year extension.
Is it a sign Marshall is more likely to stay at St Kilda?
Perhaps something else had to give from a salary standpoint for the Saints to avoid getting backed into a corner ... and that something was Aleer.
Now to really put the tinfoil hat on.
Don’t forget that the Saints ‘came late’ for Jack Silvagni to snare him from Western Bulldogs and Collingwood in a move that already bolstered Ross Lyon’s team’s key defensive stocks.
One list manager spoken to by foxfooty.com.au after St Kilda secured Silvagni was adamant the club would then deviate from Aleer.
Is it possible they were always prepared to cut the cord on Aleer if the price in a trade wasn’t suitable? You’d hope they wouldn’t have strung him along this far.
In addition to swooping in for Silvagni, it’s also worth highlighting how much else has changed since the Saints were first linked to Aleer earlier this year.
That includes a bumper $2 million-a-season extension for Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera — potentially in the realm of $1 million more than they were anticipating. Plus the added funds for Wilkie and Flanders picking them as his preferred new home.
Put simply, money could’ve gotten too tight and they needed a scapegoat.
It’s also possible the Saints could be leveraging GWS’ Clayton Oliver plans to get Aleer for cheaper or possibly even for free.
While GWS is believed to be happy to have Aleer back (though what would be on much less money to the Saints offer), the club has already committed to signing Jayden Laverde to cover the defensive void. So list spots are suddenly tight.
While the Giants could yet open up list spots to accommodate, there’s a scenario where St Kilda gets Aleer for nothing, provided bridges haven’t been burnt.
The other brutal subplot is that Aleer’s management, Centimeter Perfect Global, recently had Melbourne backflip on a deal for Wade Derksen.
And while they’re an emerging management group compared to some of the big dogs, they do represent a very important Saints player: Alix Tauru.
Negotiations for ‘The Flying Viking’’s next deal will now sure be interesting.
But where to here for Aleer? He’s left in a tough situation with limited time to work out his Plan B.
Everyone will throw up Western Bulldogs as a landing spot given they’ve been searching for a key back. But he mightn’t appeal to them.
Collingwood and North Melbourne could be other options for the athletic 195cm high-flyer.
The tricky part is that other clubs in the market for a defender have already made plans. It’s worth noting, ironically, that clubs rarely shift gears when that happens.
For example, Carlton has locked onto Buku Khamis and Sydney is set to add Jai Serong.
Meanwhile, Aleer had his new club ... until he didn’t.
It’s clearly less than ideal circumstances for prospective clubs to get their ducks in a row quick smart after a bizarre trade period twist.
And perhaps we’ll only know in the fullness of time the real reason for it.
Originally published as ‘Disgrace’: ‘Livid’ AFL star left at the altar by rival club
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